Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative efficacies of a set of organizational support mechanisms and personality traits in predicting frontline employees' service recovery and job performances. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered through selfadministered questionnaires. A sample of 723 frontline hotel employees in Turkey serves as the study setting. Findings The study results show that organizational support is more effective in differentiating between high and lowperforming frontline employees in the case of service recovery performance. However, job performance overall is more susceptible to the influences of personality traits. Research limitations/implications Replication studies in other regions of Turkey and other countries among frontline employees in the hotel industry as well as other service settings would broaden the database for further generalizations. Including other organizational support mechanisms (e.g. technology support) and personality traits (e.g. customer orientation) would shed further light on our understanding of the relative roles of organizational support and personality traits in predicting frontline employee performance. Practical implications In addition to providing organizational support to their employees, hotel managers should recruit individuals with the relevant personality traits for frontline service jobs. Using these strategies in tandem increases the likelihood of having highperforming employees. Social implications From a macro standpoint, implementation of the strategies discussed here will benefit the hotels in Turkey which are in stiffening competition with their counterparts. Originality/value The study adds to the body of knowledge by investigating simultaneously the relative efficacies of organizational support and personality traits in predicting service recovery and job performances of frontline hotel employees in a developing economy.

Women living with HIV often feel isolated. One significant avenue for HIV-positive women to receive the support, information, and affiliation they need is through gender-specific HIV support groups, but research is lacking about how support groups for HIV-positive women can be helpful. This exploratory study examined HIV-positive women's perceptions about their experiences in women-only HIV support groups. Seventy-one women attending nine women-only HIV support groups in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina were surveyed. Benefits from attendance included: (a) increase in medication compliance, (b) decreased risk behavior for re-exposure to HIV, (c) reduced feelings of shame, and (d) a network of friends to socialize with. Results indicate that even if women-only HIV support groups do not stress behavior or lifestyle changes, these are often by-products of support group attendance.

The public's continued disappointment with public education and the call for both teacher and student accountability is requiring a response from educators. School divisions in the state of Virginia are developing educational policies that address the state's Standards of Learning Objectives. Administrators and teachers continue to search for innovative ways to adapt the curriculum to guarantee individual student and school success for meeting accreditation requirements in the 2006-2007 school term. This demand for both student and teacher success has created an intense anxiousness among all persons involved in the educational process. The focus of this study was to determine what makes one school more successful in promoting student achievement on the Virginia Standards of Learning assessment than another comparable school. The exploration of a school's organizational structure, leadership practices, teaching behaviors of instructional personnel, school culture, and parent support were studied to determine their effect on student performance on the Standards of Learning assessments. The researcher was concerned with understanding of educational practices that would enrich the thinking of principals, teachers, and parents as they continue to accomplish Virginia's prescribed SOL benchmarks. Data was collected through classroom and school observations and interviews with the principals, teachers, and parents of the two schools. A cross-case comparison of the targeted schools was performed to check for commonalties and differences. Several variables emerged from the data that have implications for educators who desire to improve the effectiveness of their organizations and student achievement. An environment that promotes a sense of professional community, teacher efficacy, and a common commitment among stakeholders enhances teacher and student achievement. Principals willing to share leadership with teachers and parents have effective schools. They inspire and motivate teachers. Effective principals have high-energy levels. They listen to the people they serve. A school culture that encourages and rewards risk-taking serves to enhance teacher and student performance. Effective schools have positive, relaxed work environments. Principals that develop strong interpersonal relationships inside and outside the school positively influence student achievement and performance. / Ed. D.

The grounded theory presented in this study describes practices elementary principals utilize in influencing new teachers to remain in education. Eleven teachers and three elementary principals from one school division in Virginia participated in this study. Interview data were collected, elementary principals were shadowed, and documents were analyzed. Thematic categories and sub categories were formed through data analysis. The grounded theory that resulted from this study is: principals who create an atmosphere of trust, of mutual respect, and of service to children within a school foster teachers who state they feel successful, valued, safe, loyal, and professional and want to and expect to continue teaching. New teachers reported three themes that created their sense of success, value, safety, loyalty, and professionalism. Those themes are: (a) support; (b) communication; (c) first year success stories. Principals stated they employed a variety of practices to create the climate identified by the new teachers. The practices are: maintaining an open door policy, utilizing positive communication, developing leadership teams, encouraging professional development, designing and implementing support structures, providing opportunities for professional development, participating in decision making, encouraging and expecting peer collaboration and child centered instructional and behavioral programs. / Ed. D.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-179). / This mixed methods dissertation investigates whether the Matric Mathematics results and enrolments at high schools in the EMDC East zone of Cape Town have been impacted by the availability of computers and mathematical software (as provided by the Khanya Project); how the teachers at one school in Khayelitsha, Cape Town are using the computer as a tool to teach Mathematics, and whether their pedagogy changes between the Mathematics lessons in the conventional classroom and the computer lab. A series of statistical tests (Mann-Whitney U test; independent samples t-test; paired samples t-tests and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test) were applied to various samples of the 2007 Matric Mathematics data of high schools in the EMDC East, obtained from WCED. What was concluded was that there was no significant difference between the Matric Mathematics results of the schools with the computers and those without; no significant change in the results after the Khanya labs were installed; no significant change in the percentage of pupils that passed Matric Mathematics; and no significant change in Higher Grade Mathematics enrolment rates. The overall conclusion from the quantitative research was thus that no significant differences were brought about by the use of computers in Mathematics in the EMDC East schools. So, what does happen when the computers are being used? This led to qualitative research on whether and how computers impact pedagogy: observations of ten Mathematics lessons in a selective township school in Khayelitsha were undertaken, and transcriptions made. These transcriptions were analysed in order to determine how the teachers were using the computers as a pedagogical tool, and whether their pedagogy varies across different lesson contexts (face-to-face lessons and computer lab lessons). In the case of the former question, it was found that the computers were primarily being used as a drill-and-practise tool for revision purposes; in other words, as though they were electronic textbooks. In order to answer the latter question, each sentence of each teacher was categorised according to an analytical framework in order to determine if there were any variation in semiotic mediation (in other words, teacher talk) between the classroom and the computer lab. Chi-squared tests for independence indicated that there was a significant, moderate to strong association between the location of the lesson and the type of talk; thus there is significant variation in semiotic variation between the two venues and the teachers' pedagogy does vary between the face-to-face classroom and the computer lab. Further chi-squared tests also indicated significant, moderate to strong associations between the location of the lesson and the scale of interaction (class or individual); and between the type of talk and scale of interaction.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Community Development work in the Department of Social Work, at the University of Zululand, 2005.

Submitted in fulfillment of a degree of requirement of a degree of Masters in Community Work In the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts At the University of Zululand Supervisor: Prof N.H. Ntombela Co-Supervisor: Dr J.D. Adams Date of Submission: November 2014 / The essence of the study was on the experiences of orphaned learners at school. These experiences were limited to the psychosocial support being provided by educators and their peers to the orphaned learners during their time at school. Bearing in mind the level of stress these orphaned learners go through after the loss of their biological parents, the purpose of the study was hence to explore how orphancy was being supported psychosocially and the extent to which these support contributes to their learning and continuation of schooling. The researcher objective was to understand how orphaned learners perceive themselves through the psychosocial support they receive from their peers and educators. The significance of this study was to provide an account of how orphanhood should be catered during their schooling. To attain the research objective, a qualitative research design was used to explore the experience of the orphaned learners consequently an exploratory study. Semi-structured interviews were used as an instrument for data collection and seven participants were purposively selected due to their rarity. These participants were within high schools from the Eskhaleni Township. These participants were double orphans because they had lost both parents prior to study and residing with extended families and others reside in child-headed homes. The analysis of the data revealed that orphaned learner do experience support from their peers and educators while at school. Within the boundaries of psychosocial support the findings showed that these learners received social support from both educator and peers. Social support was in the form of motivational talk, empathized and sympathized concerns were expressed from their peers and educators. Peculiar to peers were the social attention they received during school hours most especially when their countenance were perceived to be moody. Whilst most educators only reacted in the provision of social support after realizing that the participants were not performing well at school. Unlike social support, the participants revealed that they did not receive any form of psychological support from neither peers nor educators. Out of the scope of the study the participants nonetheless acknowledged other forms of supports that they got from their peers and educators such as financial supports and were of much valuable and appreciative from their perspective. The researcher therefore recommended that township school should be provided with professional counselors at schools. Furthermore the South African School Act, Children’s Right and School based policies should be amended in considerations of orphaned leaners necessities. / University of Zululand Research Fund,

A thesis submitted in partial fulfiment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Community Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, 2009 / This study which sought to understand the psychological wellbeing of bereaved employees and the support they receive within their working environment used a convenient sample of 209 participants that included bereaved employees, managers, supervisors and human resource officers from various organisations in the province of Kwa Zulu-Natal. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were utilized in this study. Findings showed that: (a) At times bereaved employees were not well supported when resuming work after the funeral. (b) Support offered before the funeral was sufficiently adequate in the majority of Organisations but still warrants improvement. (c) Some bereaved employees who developed complicated grief did not receive adequate psychological intervention that they deserve. (d) Mostly feelings of disturbances interfered with job performance. (e) The current Family Responsibility leave was inadequate for those bereaved employees whose culture demanded more days to cope with bereavement rituals. (f) The Employment Assistance Programmes that most organisations depend on were largely ineffective in dealing with bereaved employees who need counselling or psychotherapy. The implication of the findings pointed to a need for organisations to have clear bereavement policies and support programmes for bereaved employees.

Students with learning disabilities (LDs) represent 9% of students attending college, and college administrators must comply with a large number of federal requirements outlining the provision of educational services for students with LDs, including offering support groups. Nurse-facilitated support groups, held within the university setting, could provide effective social support, increasing likelihood of college success among students with LDs. The purpose of this project was to develop a plan for implementing nurse-facilitated support groups for students with LDs within the student health services (SHS) department at a university designed to improve their coping skills on personal, social, and academic levels. Guided by the Logic Model, a plan for implementing nurse-facilitated support groups within the SHS department was developed and presented to university stakeholders. Components of the plan included a support group structure, curriculum, evaluation tools, steps for piloting the program, and a proposed timeline for implementing the program. The stakeholders acknowledged the potential benefits of initiating a program of nurse-facilitated support groups for students with LDs to assist in attaining their academic goals. However, additional analysis of the program and refining and other disabilities to assist in attaining their academic goals; however, additional analysis of the program and refining the proposed student self-evaluation tool were needed before implementing the program. Nurses in a SHS department staff are effective support group facilitators for students with LDs. This study holds the potential for positive social change by enhancing personal, social, and academic coping skills with nurse-facilitated support groups who may help students with LDs reduce their risk of experiencing burnout and enhance the likelihood of academic success.

A high attrition rate exists among new music teachers in a public school district in Central Texas. This problem is mirrored by a high attrition rate of music teachers across the United States. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore reasons for the attrition of music teachers at the study site, to articulate why some new music teachers have left the profession, and to identify supports that could be influential in retaining new music teachers. The study was grounded in Gardner's theory that administrators have the ability to make policy changes that can influence retention and attrition rates for music teachers. Data were collected through individual interviews with 3 administrators, 3 new music teachers, and a focus group of 3 former music teachers who resigned from their positions at the study site. Data were open coded and thematically analyzed for reoccurring themes. Findings indicated that the high attrition rate of music teachers at the study site may result from unequal treatment of music teachers compared to core content teachers. Another issue noted was the lack of understanding by music teachers and administrators about available supports to new teachers. Recommendations include providing equal opportunities to music teachers to attend subject-specific professional learning communities and professional development activities. This study may contribute to social change through adjustments to the training and mentoring structures for new music teachers in the local district, which may ultimately decrease the turnover of music teachers.